Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



UNrrED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

PATENT FIRE ARMS MANUFACTURING OOMFANY, OF

SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 32,032, dated April 9,1361.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMEs H. MERRILL, of the city of Baltimore andState of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBreech-Loading Fire-Arms; and l do hereby declare the following to beafull, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference being had totheaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-Figures l and 2 represent longitudinal vertical sections throughportions of a gun, showing its several parts in two positions, an Figs.3 and 4 represent detached parts that will be specially referred to inthe description.

The recoil from the explosion of a cartridge of course comes upon thebreech-plug behind it, and when that breech-plug is hung to a lever ittransfers the recoil to the lever, and is apt to jump or spring it open,and sometimes injure the lever.

The object of my invention is to so connect my levers and breech-plugwhen they are in line as that several shoulders upon them and upon thecasing of. the gun shall interlock or lap over, and thus break or divideup the recoil upon several points, all of which tend to hold thebreech-plug firmly against recoil; and my invention consists in not onlyhaving shoulders upon the main lever that lock in with shoulders on thegun-casing, but also to have shoulders upon the levers themselves, whichinterlock when the gun is charged and discharged, and thus additionallybrace the breech-plug against recoil or flying back.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

A represents a portion of the stock, and B, a portion of the barrel, ofa gun constructed after my general plan-that is to say, the barrel beingentirely open atits rear, and hind the barrel along open chamber, G, for

ready loading and easy cleaning, and in which chamber the levers andbreech-plug are hung and actuated as follows: The lever D is pivoted ata near the rear of the chamber C, and to this lever, at b, is pivotedthe rear end of the toggle-lever E, said toggle-lever being pivoted atits other or front end to the breechplug F. Upon the lever D areshoulders c c, which close down in Contact with shoulders d on thegun-casing, when the lever is brought down, as -shown in Fig. l, andbeyond the shoulders c there is on the under side of said lever D ashoulder, e, which shuts down in contact with a shoulder, j', on thetoggle-lever E, and at the end of the lever there is a spring-bolt, g,that takes under a catch-piece,

on the barrel. At all these lapjoints, where one piece moves patanother, there is a scraping-edge that will clean off any gummy matteror dirt, which might otherwise prevent the parts from coming down closeif allowed to accumulate in these joints.

i is a groove formed in the toggle-lever E, (in one or on both of itssides,) which receives a pin, o, set in the casing. and which pin guidesthe toggle-lever in its forward and rearward movement, for the purposeof drawing down or raising up the breech-plug F, as the case may be.This groove is of a curved form so far as it extends through thetogglelever, and it continues into the lever D in a more direct line, asseen at 12'; or, in other word s, the groove in the toggle-lever is morenearly in the line of its length, while in the lever D it is at rightangles to such a line. When the lever D is shut down, the pin o is inthe groove i', when raised up, it is in the forward part of the groovet'.

The plug F has a groove, r, cut in it, for holding any lubricatingcompound, and also for forming a gas-chamber, which when the plug iswithdrawn for another charge relieves itself.

The front part of the breech-plug is hollowed out, and a copper or anyother eXpansive metal plug, s, inserted therein, and the edges of theplug are split, as at t, to allow them to yield to the expansion of thecopper, and to pack thereby the bore of the gun.

Having thus fully described the nature and object of my invention,what Iclaim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

The combination of the shoulders upon the levers and upon the casing ofthe gun, to take the recoil of the breech-plug upon instead of allowingit to come entirely upon the pivots, and for security against thespringing up of the levers, substantially as described.

JAMES H. MERRILL. v

Witnesses:

' DAvID CAEsoiv, P. W. TnoMAs.

